Aftermath
by Sakuyan
Summary: [AU] [ASGZC] A vicious attack leaves Cloud broken and Genesis, Zack, Angeal and Sephiroth scrambling to pick up the pieces.


**A/N: **Holy moly is all I can say. This plot bunny attacked and never left me alone for most of the day until I finished this. This is easily the longest thing I've written in a few months, and although writing this OT5 is still fairly new to me, people seemed to like the previous one, so I hope this one is as well received.

**Warning: This story contains rape.** Nothing explicit, but enough to wager a warning. Turn back if that's a trigger for you. It also contains AU-ness, possible OOCness, and other things like that.

**Pairing: **ASGZC.

**Musical inspirations: **Crush by David Archuleta and Sexy Naughty Bitchy by Tata Young. (That second song is my go-to for this pair. Each time I listen to it, I think of them. Give it a listen if you want.)

Please enjoy and feedback / constructive criticism is highly appreciated.

* * *

><p><strong>Aftermath<strong>

* * *

><p>Cloud hums as he walks, hands in his pockets, iPod blaring the newest song by his favorite band. It was a beautiful day; the breeze was crisp and cool while leaves billowed from the trees to the ground below. Cars zoom by, blowing stray blond hairs into Cloud's eyes, but to rectify that, he simply pushes them away and continues his walk. His lovers were busy with their own, respective things, so he thought it would be a good idea to get some area to counteract the loneliness he felt when he was alone.<p>

A car pulls up in front of him minutes later, and Cloud simply raises an eyebrow at it and continues on what he was doing. He guesses they were parked there to meet someone else, but he wasn't expecting to be grabbed, knocked in the head with something, and thrown in the back. "What the hell are you doing?!" Cloud screams and kicks, successfully landing a blow to one of his captor's shoulders, but they simply glare at him. "Let me go, damn you!"

His vision was dancing with stars and his head was swimming from whatever they hit him with. He heard one of them say "This one is the best one yet" before his mind blanked and he passed out.

-v-

Zack bolts upright when he felt an oddity in his soul. Immediately, he takes out his phone and texts his lovers, tapping his foot impatiently as he waits.

Naturally, Sephiroth text him back first. _I'm all right, _it reads, _what about the others?_

Next was Genesis. _I'm fine. What the hell _was _that?_

Angeal was after. _Everything is okay with me. What about you, puppy?_

Zack text them all back and waits for five minutes to hear a response from Cloud. The sense of dread in his stomach grew when there was no response, so he dialed their chocobo's number and grit his teeth when it immediately went to voicemail.

Zack made a mass group text and sent out, _Cloud never text me back and his phone went straight to voicemail. Meet me at home in ten minutes._

His phone chimed simultaneously and he knew the message that would already be there.

_We'll be right there._

-v-

Cloud moans in pain when he awakens. His head hurt like something else and the world spun around him. "Where am I?"

"Good, you woke up," a strange voice says, filled with malice and something else Cloud didn't want to think about. "C'mon in, boys."

The door opens, revealing three well-built men, tall men who make the blond feel small and insignificant. Cloud moves away, trying to get as far away from their presense as possible, when one grabs his head and shoves him on the bed. "Now now, don't run. We're going to make this a pleasurable experience for you, if you let us."

Cloud's eyes widen and a shudder passes through his body at the realization of what exactly these men planned to do with him. Clenching them shut, he does his best to block out the noises of clothes being shed and pants being unzipped. They fly open when hands reach for his own clothes, and he screams, kicking and flailing, but one of the men who walked in earlier grab his arms while another his legs, thus ceasing his movements.

His eyes burn with tears, but Cloud does his best to block out what was about to happen by trying to remember all the acts of "the best thing since sex", as Genesis so crudely put it. He smiles, almost, but then he's thrown back when cold air hits his bare skin and fingers touch places that no one besides his lovers have ever ventured.

Biting his lip, Cloud lets the tears fall from his eyes and screams at the pain that erupts through his body minutes later.

-v-

The first one to enter the house was Genesis. His eyes were wild and a snarl was ripping through his lips. "Zack, tell me you heard that," he hisses and Zack looks down at his lover's clenched fists. "Someone is hurting him and we have no idea where the hell he is!"

"Calm down, Genesis," a cool, calm voice comes seconds later and Zack looks over at Sephiroth. His face was impassive as always, but the younger boy could see the anger hiding in the normally stoic man's eyes. "Anger will get us nowhere."

"Fuck that! Fuck everything; we have to find him because who knows what some sick fuck could be doing to him—"

"I agree with Seph, we have to be calm about this," Angeal's voice says. Genesis relaxes a little, but his fists remain clenched and his eyes flicker between raw anger and concern. "We all heard the same thing, no?"

"Yeah." Zack nods. "Cloud screamed for some reason. It sounded … pained. What are we gonna do?"

"I don't care what you all are going to do; I'm going out there and finding him!" With that said, Genesis storms out of the house, leaving the three to look at each other with slight exasperation. They could understand where their lover was coming from; Genesis was the closest to Cloud, followed by Zack, then Angeal, and finally Sephiroth. Due to that, he could sense the blond more than the others could, and it concerns them. Genesis may be hot tempered, but he acts like this only when Cloud was in grave pain or peril.

"Should we follow him?" Zack asks after a minute. Sephiroth and Angeal nod, and with that, they rush out of the house to follow Genesis.

-v-

Cloud curls into himself when the torture was over. He was sore everywhere and he was sure he was bleeding from the vicious sex the men put him through. His body trembles with sobs as he scrambles for his clothes, which thankfully remained untorn so he could still wear them. His iPod was still in his pants pocket, as well as his cellphone, which either meant the men were too busy with him to notice or they simply didn't care about technological equipment. Wiping his eyes and wincing, Cloud puts his clothes on, slowly moving towards the door.

"_You're free to leave now, you little whore," _he remembers one of them saying once they were done with him. Letting out another sob, Cloud steps into the light, covering his eyes and checking his phone out of instinct. He notices a text from Zack asking if he was okay, so he dials a number, knowing it belonged to one of his lovers, but unsure of which one, and puts it to his ear.

"_Cloud! Baby, are you okay?" _

Cloud laughs, but it turns into sobs within seconds. "Genesis, I'm sorry, I—"

"_Shh, don't cry, little one. Where are you?"_

"I … I don't know."

For a few moments, there's silence on the other end of the line, then Cloud feels his body warm and a familiar presense wrap around his body. _"I know where you are. Don't move darling, I'll be right there."_

Cloud sniffles and nods, wrapping his free arm around himself and biting on his bottom lip. "Gene?"

"_What is it, hun?"_

"I love you." Another sob. "I love all of you. I'm so sorry."

"_Shush. You have nothing to apologize for. I'll be there soon."_

"Stay with me!" Cloud desperately pleads, feeling that Genesis was about to hang up. "I don't want to be alone…"

"_All right. Calm down, sweetheart."_

Cloud lets Genesis's voice act like a balm for his wounded soul, and he lets his auburn haired lover do all the talking until he hears footfalls coming towards him. Tensing, he lets out a scream and throws his hands up to protect himself, his phone landing on the pavement with a dull thud. "No, no, no, let me go! Don't touch me!" he screams when arms wrap around him, but a whisper in his ear shushes him within seconds. Cloud collapses against Genesis, hiding his face in his coat and letting out another scream as sobs rack his body. "I'm so sorry, I'm sorry…"

"My poor little baby," Genesis murmurs, tightening his grip on his trembling lover. He closes his eyes, showing his other lovers where he was, before focusing his attention on Cloud. "Tell me what happened."

"I was walking because I was lonely," Cloud begins, his hands gripping Genesis's coat as he feels his lover stroke his hair in soothing motions. "This car showed up, and I thought nothing of it, but then these men got out and attacked me."

"Attacked you?" Genesis repeats, feeling rage burn through his blood. "Who?"

"I don't know." Cloud shivers, moving closer to Genesis as he finishes his story. "I woke up in a room and … the same men came out. They-…" Here the blond sobs and clutches Genesis tighter. "I'm so sorry; I'm disgusting now and you won't ever want to touch me again. I know how much you hate disgusting things."

"First of all, you are a person, not a thing, and a very precious one at that," Genesis reassures, doing his best to keep his anger inward instead of outward. "Second, none of this is your fault. We'll find the ones who did this and make them pay for ever daring to touch you."

Cloud was about to say something to that, when a loud voice yells "Cloud!" He looks up, seeing Zack, Angeal, and Sephiroth run towards them. He clenches his eyes shut, shivering all over again, and he hears Angeal say "What happened to him?"

He feels a hand on his back and Cloud looks over, coming eye to eye with the concerned eyes of Zack. Genesis, seeming to sense something, lets him go and the blond buries himself in Zack's arms. "Shh, chocobo, it's okay. You're not in danger anymore."

"I'm so sorry," Cloud mumbles and Zack shushes him, humming one of his favorite songs to him and nuzzling his face in Cloud's hair. "I love you. I love all of you. Please don't hate me."

"I could never hate you," Zack says, as if the idea was something foreign to him. He looks over at their lovers, asking with his eyes to reassure the youngest of them.

"I already told you, none of this is your fault." Genesis moves to rest a hand on Cloud's hair and gives it a little ruffle. "We all love you and this hasn't changed that."

"He's right." Angeal goes closer to Cloud as well and Zack turns him around so he's eye to eye with him. "We will exact revenge on the ones who did this to you in time. For now, our top priority is getting you well again."

"Exactly," Sephiroth adds. He kneels down next to the others and flashes a brief smile in Cloud's direction. "Believe me when I say they _will _pay for what they've done."

Cloud smiles tearfully and wiggles one of his hands free so he can grasp each of his lover's hands in turn. He knows he'll be okay. In this little circle, he feels safe, warm, and loved, and that's something those men could never take away from him.

-v-

After they've gotten Cloud settled in their master bedroom, they look at each other, each face holding a different expression. Sephiroth is indifference, but anger wells in his eyes. Angeal looks calm, but his fist remains clenched at his side, thus showing what his true feelings were. Genesis's eyes hold anger stronger than any of them have ever seen and his lips curl to an animalistic snarl. Zack runs a hand through his hair and looks lost, almost as if he has no idea what to do. They want to help the youngest of them as much as they can, but none of them have experience when it comes with dealing with a victim of rape.

The whole way to their home, Cloud kept apologizing, begging with his broken voice and eyes filled with tears for them not to leave him. It broke their hearts, seeing the once calm and collected man fall to pieces in front of their eyes, but it was natural when anyone was a victim of a traumatic crime.

"I hate this," Genesis breaks the silence after a few minutes of silence pass between them. "We're stuck here doing _nothing _while Cloud suffers. Why can't we do _something_?!"

Sephiroth rests a hand on the auburn's shoulder, causing him to sag and rest against the silver haired man. "We can lend him our strength against his own thoughts," he says, his eyes looking at the door to the bedroom. "I was doing some reading and if we stay nearby, Cloud shouldn't have nightmares as frequently as he normally would."

Zack perks up a little at the words. "You guys stay here; I'll go sleep with him." Normally, one of them would have commented on their puppy's poor choice of words, but they were simply too worried about Cloud to make a comment. The raven haired boy flicks a hand and makes his way to the bedroom, where Cloud sleeps restlessly and moans occasionally. "I'm sorry, Cloud," he whispers, sitting on the edge of the bed. He didn't want to give the blond any unnecessary scares while he sleeps, so he simply watches with a grim smile.

He closes his eyes, sending out the same thought to his lovers. _We'll make him whole again._

_Of course we will. _

-v-

Cloud didn't reciprocate touches that well in the beginning. He would shy away, his bright blue eyes wide with fear, and they would back off, letting him do what he wanted on his own terms. They took him to a hospital once he awoke, and the doctors were able to recover multiple traces of different DNA. One of them said they would get back to them as soon as possible with who they belonged to, and they agreed, taking Cloud back home and letting him do what he wanted regarding touching and anything related to it.

At first, Cloud would sit by himself on the couch, curled into himself, and then his eyes would flicker upwards, staring at them. The defeated look in his eyes, combined with the trembling of his body, made them sit with the blond, Genesis and Zack closest as their souls were closest to Cloud.

After a while, he learnt to deal with touches better, even leaning into a few after two months passed. Cloud would smile more, laugh at Zack's antics, shake his head at Genesis's constant reciting of LOVELESS, help Angeal in the kitchen, and train with Sephiroth like he did before. For a moment, they almost forgot the trauma that the young man went through, but then he would flinch at sudden noise and they'd be forcefully brought back to reality.

Five months later, Cloud was almost back to his normal self. He responded to touches well and didn't flinch away that often from surprising noise, at least. Currently, he was curled up against Genesis, laughing at a comedy that was on their 50" flatscreen. The others were flanked around him, never wanting to venture far from the blond since his experience. The culprits still hadn't been caught, but each of them made it a mission to make sure Cloud wasn't alone on any given day.

"_My soul, corrupted by vengeance, hath endured torment, to find the end of the journey in my own salvation and your eternal slumber."_

Cloud shook his head and let out another string of laughs. "Again with LOVELESS, Gene?"

"That part speaks to me more than the others after such a horrendous thing, sweetheart," Genesis offers in lieu of a reply, nuzzling Cloud's hair.

"Because of the "corrupted by vengeance" part?" Cloud inquiries, head tilted to the side in quiet curiosity.

"I think it is "my own salvation and your eternal slumber" bit," Sephiroth answers, reaching forward and stroking Cloud's cheek with a tender touch.

"I second that," Zack says, bouncing on Angeal's lap and grinning at the look the older man sends his way. "What? Not turning you on, am I?"

Angeal rolls his eyes. "Hardly. I was wondering why you can't sit still for a minute."

"Aw, here was me thinking bouncing on your—"

"Zackary."

"Sorry," Zack mumbles, his expression saying he wasn't sorry at all.

Cloud lets loose a small smile at their most hyperactive lover. Sex talk didn't make him flinch as much as it used to, but the thought of it made him cringe and whimper. None of them did anything even mildly sexual with him, and that was something Cloud admires about his lovers. He asked once if they did anything sexual since his rape, and they gave him a blank look, Zack saying after a few seconds of silence that he was a part of their sex life and they wouldn't do anything without him in it.

He was sure they did … things to relieve themselves of sexual tension, but true to Zack's word, Cloud never once caught them doing sexual things with one another. That didn't mean they didn't do things when he was fast asleep, but his soul told him they didn't, and that was enough for him.

A while passed before he realized that they could feel each other due to their bond if they engage in sexual activity with one another, and they weren't doing anything of the sort to not put Cloud through traumatic memories. It made him love them all the more, that they were holding out on something pleasurable so they wouldn't put their youngest through trauma, and thinking about it, he cuddles up closer to Genesis and touches the hand on his cheek.

"I love you all," he says, causing them to stare at him with somber expressions. "You've done so much for me and I don't know how I can repay you. So … thank you."

"Don't be so silly, chocobo," Zack says happily, moving off Angeal's lap. He leans forward, almost as if he's going to kiss him, but one sharp look from Genesis makes him think otherwise. "We love you too; that's why we've done all this."

The others nod their agreement and Cloud lets loose a smile, the first real one he feels he had in months. He beckons them over, confusion painted on their faces, and first he leans backwards, kissing Genesis, then Zack, Angeal, and finally Sephiroth. "I think I'm okay now," he whispers, laughing a little at the shocked looks he's receiving. "Really. I'm not pushing myself. I did that out of natural want."

"You may be able to do that, sweetie, but sex isn't something that we want to force on you. We can still tell the idea makes you extremely uncomfortable," Genesis says, though a smile rests on his lips when he says the words. "This is a huge first step, however. A good one."

"Yep!" Zack exclaims, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Sephiroth shakes his head, though he can't help the smile that forces its way on his face, and Angeal chuckles faintly at their puppy's antics.

Their home phone rings and they look amongst themselves, wondering who should answer it. "I will," Sephiroth says, reaching towards the phone and answering it. "Hello?" His eyes widen and everyone feels the surprise through the bond. "I see. Thank you." He hangs up and looks at his lovers with a faint smile on his face. "They caught the ones responsible for sexually assaulting Cloud."

Cloud's eyes widen. "They're … caught?" he repeats, almost as if he's testing the words. At Sephiroth's nod, he laughs and his eyes brighten. "Those bastards won't touch anyone else."

"That's right," Angeal clarifies, resting his hand on Cloud's hair. "You're safe now."

Cloud nods and Zack kisses their chocobo's forehead. "They won't hurt you anymore."

"Mm," Sephiroth adds, touching Cloud's hand and giving him a small smile.

"I wish I could rip their balls off for doing what they did to our innocent little Cloud," Genesis says, effectively ruining the moment with his vulgar-ness.

Cloud chuckles faintly. "Sorry."

"Tch. I'll just imagine it in my dreams."

The blond returns his attention to the comedy on the television, feeling warmth and love surround him. It would be a while before he was fully okay again, but this, at least, was a start.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Fin.<em>**


End file.
